SC mulls pan-India guidelines over inordinate delays in framing of charges in criminal cases
New Delhi (PTI): Expressing its annoyance over the delay in the completion of trials in criminal cases due to non-framing of charges for years even after chargesheets are filed, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it needs to lay down pan-India guidelines to address the problem which leads to huge pendency of cases in the judiciary.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, which sought the assistance of the Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said even after the chargesheets are filed, the trial courts are not framing the charges for three to four years.
"We have noticed, time and again, the charges are not being framed even months and years after the filing of the chargesheet. This is one of the primary reasons for the trial getting delayed.
"Unless and until the charges are framed in a criminal case, the trial cannot commence. As such, this situation seems to be prevalent in most of the courts and we are of the considered opinion that certain directions need to be issued pan-India in this regard," the top court said.
It appointed senior advocate Siddharth Luthra as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter.
"We also permit the petitioner's counsel to furnish a copy of the petitioner and the present order to the Attorney General as we propose to issue directions if required for all courts across the country," the bench said as it listed the matter after two weeks.
The bench, which was hearing a bail plea of an accused in a criminal case from Bihar, was informed by his counsel that charges have not been framed for the past two years despite the filing of a chargesheet.
The top court noted that under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), in cases exclusively triable by a court of sessions, a charge must be framed within 60 days of the first hearing.
Justice Kumar said that the delay in completion of trials in criminal cases is due to non-framing of charges and in civil matters it is due to non-framing of issues by the trial court.
"Why take years and years to frame charges? In civil cases, non-framing of the issues and in criminal cases, non-framing of charges.
"We want to know what the difficulties are and we will issue directions for all courts across the country. We propose to do it," the bench said at the outset.
The top court also sought the assistance of former high court judge and senior advocate S Nagamuthu.
The counsel appearing for the Bihar government said that there are substantial delays between the filing of a chargesheet and the framing of charges.
Similarly, another counsel pointed out that the same situation exists even in Maharashtra. Recently, another bench of the apex court has also expressed concern over 600 criminal cases where charges have not been framed and remarked that "it was a shocking state of arrears".
The top court had sought details of such cases from district courts in Maharashtra.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
